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Psalm 84 (NAB)

 
                   

                Prayer of a Pilgrim to Jerusalem



1    For the leader; "upon the gittith."  A psalm of the Korahites.

     I

2    How lovely your dwelling,

          O LORD of hosts!a

3    My soul yearns and pines

          for the courts of the LORD.b

     My heart and flesh cry out 

          for the living God.

4    As the sparrow finds a home

          and the swallow a nest to settle her young,

     My home is by your altars,

          LORD of hosts, my king and my God!c

5    Happy are those who dwell in your house!

          They never cease to praise you.            Selah

     II

6    Happy are those who find refuge in you,

          whose hearts are set on pilgrim roads.

7    As they pass through the Baca valley,

          they find spring water to drink.

     Also from pools the Lord provides water

          for those who lose their way.

8    They pass through outer and inner wall

          and see the God of gods on Zion.

     III

9    LORD of hosts, hear my prayer;

          listen, God of Jacob.                              Selah

10   O God, look kindly on our shield;

          look upon the face of your anointed.d

     IV

11   Better one day in your courts

          than a thousand elsewhere.

     Better the threshold of the house of my God

          than a home in the tents of the wicked.

12   For a sun and shield is the LORD God,

          bestowing all grace and glory.

     The LORD withholds no good thing

          from those who walk without reproach.

13   O LORD of hosts,

          happy are those who trust in you!



                        Cross references



a Pss 43, 3-4; 122, 1.

b Pss 42, 2-3; 63, 2-3; 143, 6; Is 26, 9.

c Ps 5, 3.

d Ps 89, 19.



                              Notes
Ps 84: Israelites celebrated three pilgrimage feasts in Jerusalem annually. The psalm expresses the sentiments of the pilgrims eager to enjoy the divine presence.

84, 4: The desire of a restless bird for a secure home is an image of the desire of a pilgrim for the secure house of God. Cf. Ps 42, 2-3, where the image for the desire of the pilgrim is the thirst of the deer for water.

84, 7: Baca valley: Hebrew obscure; probably a valley on the way to Jerusalem.

84, 10: Our shield . . . your anointed: the king had a role in the liturgical celebration. For the king as shield, cf. Ps 89, 19.

Copyright 1991 by the confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, DC. All rights reserved.

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